I love this sutra -- it is so beautiful and full of meaning explaining that Mahayana sutras aren't literal but have many different meanings.

I also love the exposition on a Bodhisatvas family -- this helped me explain the story of the Dasaratha Jataka, where the Bodhisatva Rama actually marries his sister (Sita)...this bugged me. This shows that one should not always take Buddha's words and Buddhist stories and works literally!

http://www.fodian.net/world/0475_09.html"Manjusri replied, "Good sirs, you have all spoken well.Nevertheless, all your explanations are themselves dualistic.To know no one teaching, to express nothing, to say nothing, to explain nothing, to announce nothing, to indicate nothing, and to designate nothing - that is the entrance into nonduality."Then the crown prince Manjusri said to the Licchavi, Vimalakirti,"We have all given our own teachings, noble sir.Now, may you elucidate the teaching of the entrance into the principle of nonduality!"Thereupon, the Licchavi Vimalakirti kept his silence, saying nothing at all.The crown prince Manjusri applauded the Licchavi Vimalakirti:"Excellent! Excellent, noble sir!This is indeed the entrance into the nonduality of the bodhisattvas.Here there is no use for syllables, sounds, and ideas."

http://www.fodian.net/world/0475_06.htmlThereupon, the Venerable Sariputra had this thought:"There is not even a single chair in this house.Where are these disciples and bodhisattvas going to sit?"The Licchavi Vimalakirti read the thought of the Venerable Sariputra and said, "Reverend Sariputra, did you come here for the sake of the Dharma?Or did you come here for the sake of a chair?"Sariputra replied, "I came for the sake of the Dharma, not for the sake of a chair."

Vimalakirti continued, "Reverend Sariputra, he who is interested in the Dharma is not interested even in his own body, much less in a chair.Reverend Sariputra, he who is interested in the Dharma has no interest in matter, sensation, intellect, motivation, or consciousness.He has no interest in these aggregates, or in the elements, or in the sense-media. Interested in the Dharma, he has no interest in the realm of desire, the realm of matter, or the immaterial realm.Interested in the Dharma, he is not interested in attachment to the Buddha, attachment to the Dharma, or attachment to the Sangha.Reverend Sariputra, he who is interested in the Dharma is not interested in recognizing suffering, abandoning its origination, realizing its cessation, or practicing the path. Why?The Dharma is ultimately without formulation and without verbalization.Who verbalizes: 'Suffering should be recognized, origination should be eliminated, cessation should be realized, the path should be practiced,' is not interested in the Dharma but is interested in verbalization.

http://www.fodian.net/world/0475_03.html"The young men complained: 'But, householder, we have heard the Tathagata declare that one should not renounce the world without the permission of one's parents.''Vimalakirti answered: 'Young men, you should cultivate yourselves intensively to conceive the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment.That in itself will be your renunciation and high ordination!'"

For me, I think the Vimalkirti made me into a Mahayanist, because now whenever I see something that seems to contradict the Tipitaka or criticizing Arahants as a lesser attainment, instead of thinking, "HERESY!" or "INSULT!", I remember the words of Vimalkirti to just like "take a chill pill" , don't take things so literally :

"'Furthermore, noble son, the Dharma-worship consists of determining the Dharma according to the Dharma; applying the Dharma according to the Dharma; being in harmony with relativity; being free of extremist convictions;attaining the tolerance of ultimate birthlessness and nonoccurrence of all things; realizing selflessness and living-beinglessness; refraining from struggle about causes and conditions, without quarreling, or disputing; not being possessive; being free of egoism; relying on the meaning and not on the literal expression; relying on gnosis and not on consciousness; relying on the ultimate teachings definitive in meaning and not insisting on the superficial teachings interpretable in meaning; relying on reality and not insisting on opinions derived from personal authorities;realizing correctly the reality of the Buddha; realizing the ultimate absence of any fundamental consciousness;and overcoming the habit of clinging to an ultimate ground. Finally, attaining peace by stopping everything from ignorance to old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, anxiety, and trouble, and realizing that living beings know no end to their views concerning these twelve links of dependent origination; then, noble son, when you do not hold to any view at all, it is called the unexcelled Dharma-worship.'

This sutra is also called, or 'The Reconciliation of Dichotomies,' -- indeed! It reconciles beautifully the Tipitaka with the Mahayana sutras.

Will wrote:BDK came out with this a year or two ago, translated by Hubbard. Has anyone read the commentary and is the entire sutra text part of the translation also?

Expository Commentary on the Vimalakirti Sutra

Dear Will,

My copy of this book has just arrived so I have not yet had time to read. I can however answer that the sutra is not included in the book. The translator mentions: "As noted above, only short phrases and snippets of this root text are embedded in the Commentary, which will make following the overall narrative of both the root text and the Commentary translated here difficult for the reader."

From my quick skim of the text the translator is not exaggerating. It does look quite difficult to follow. That said, I have not had time to read so I can't comment on the quality of the text but BDK usually puts out excellent work. It is suggested that one read the Commentary along with the original root text. It isn't clear at this time which translation one should use.

For what it is worth, I was able to find this book in new condition from Alibris for 40 USD which is lower than the sticker price.

"Inscribed with the brush of Mt. Sumeru and the ink of the seas,Heaven-and-earth itself is the sutra book.All phenomena are encompassed in even a single point therein,And the six sense objects are all included within its covers."-Kukai, translated in Kukai on the Philosophy of Language by Takagi and Dreitlein

Thanks deareader, but I also got a copy since that 20 Dec post. Not only is the root text incomplete, the snippets were only put in quote marks, not even bold so they would stand out for poor reader - bad BDK.